West Ham United – Board or Bust?

In 2010, David Gold and David Sullivan took over their boyhood club that was in despair. In fact, you could say that they have saved them from certain liquidation.

However, at the start, things didn’t go quite to plan with the Hammers finishing 17th escaping relegation by the skin of their teeth having just 5 points on Burnley relegated at 18th. The manager at the time Gianfranco Zola had his contract terminated leaving fans relieved for the new season.

The 2010/11 season didn’t fare well either as the Irons had a miserable season. The owners appointed the Ex-Chelsea and Portsmouth boss Avram Grant. West Ham picked up a measly 33 points for the season finishing 20th meaning they were relegated to the Championship. Shortly after, Grant was sacked from the job.

There was quite a buzz about the Championship season, a fresh start for West Ham to rebuild and come back with a vengeance.

Sam Allardyce was appointed to do the job as the ex-England boss brought in experience with Kevin Nolan and Gary O’Neil for an exciting season.

The Hammers finished 3rd as a late winner from Ricardo Vaz Te secured promotion in the play-off final against Blackpool. West Ham fans finally had something to be happy about.

For the next few seasons, West Ham sustained mid-table finishes as news broke of the move from The Boleyn to the Olympic Stadium.

Not surprisingly, many fans opposed the move, but not much was talked about during the early stages with the ongoing legal battles with Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient dragging on.

Fast forward to the 2014-15 season; West Ham finished a mixed campaign at 12th for their penultimate season before the move to the new ground. Fans weren’t happy with Sam Allardyce’s style of play, and many didn’t think he was the right man for the job at the London Stadium as supporters got frustrated, the board took notice and thus didn’t renew his contract for it to run out to the end of the season.

The last season at Upton Park proved a notably significant one.

The two David’s appointed the Croatian manager Slaven Bilic (Former West Ham defender) for the managerial position. Managers such as Rafael Benitez and even Jurgen Klopp were on the watchlist, so the Hammers fans were skeptical of the appointment.

Little did they know he could prove that West Ham had one of their best league campaigns ever. Players like Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini were brought in giving the team creativity; you could even say “The West Ham way.”

The team finished 7th for a Europa League spot, just shy of Champions League football. A fitting farewell for the old Anne Boleyn.

Here arrives the new state of the art London Stadium with 66,000 seats. Season ticket buys reached an all-time high, expectations from last season were in the air.

This was the big move the owners pushed for the club. The stadium that was said to bring West Ham to a whole new level with money and trophies – a modern era for the club.

The summer transfer window arrived for the new season, Arguably one of the biggest seasons in the team’s history.

Unfortunately the transfer window proved to be terrible. The owners bragged and flexed their wealth with very little to show, going for targets way above their league, perhaps thinking the stadium would pave the way for superstar players.

Endless sources with West Ham getting rejected constantly. The fans begged for a striker and a much-needed right-back.

Instead, they received a poor player in Simone Zaza who had the most laughable penalty ever which he missed and a 34-year-old 3rd choice right-back that eventually only played three games in Alvaro Arbeloa. The big money signing was Andre Ayew from Swansea, although the Ghanaian was simply not what the West Ham faithful expected however fans were still optimistic from their last great season.

The new stadium quickly became faulty with fans not being able to stand, the stewarding was terrible, and fans began fighting against each other. The owners were to blame; they didn’t think it through as fans endlessly complained.

We haven’t even started the season as West Ham couldn’t compete at the ground with struggling results and off the field incidents such as the Payet Saga. Fans grew angry and frustrated wanting the old stadium back. Sadly, the club was all bark and no bite. Bilic’s men finished the season 11th, a false finish quite frankly with most of the season being in a relegation battle. Fans had enough.

After last season’s failure to live up to expectation of competing for top eight, the board has given the manager confidence for the upcoming season. As of now, West Ham are still struggling to sign players with targets getting stolen and fans getting frustrated at the penny pinching from the owners and some even saying to leave and sell the club to rich billionaires.

In my opinion, if the opportunity arised, and offers were coming in from wealthy foreign owners, I say why not?

Why not have ambition? Why not give the fans what they want?

West Ham United are desperate for silverware, and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likely to happen with the current owners.

The once East End Dell boys with the club at heart-saving it from certain liquidation has now become content. Content isn’t the West Ham way, and I for one would like to see change but to still thank the owners for stabilizing this fine club. It’s true fortune’s always hiding, and I’m sure this move will eventually find it.

19 turning 20. Aspiring Football journalist and unfortunate West Ham fan. Willing to put in hard work to establish a career. Anyone and achieve anything if the put in the effort! I will prove the doubters wrong.